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Twice in my life I have been told that I am a warrior for the Lord by individuals who did not know me, but saw it in the spirit once they laid eyes on me. I share this because not only is it true, but it makes complete sense why I love learning about and teaching on the subject of spiritual warfare.

In this video, I will be sharing a hugely impactful tool we can use against the attacks of the enemy. I use this tool often in my own life and have seen victory upon victory in Him.

I have more tools to share in the future, but sharing with you as I am led by the Lord. Some of these tools may be obvious to some, but it is always good to be refreshed with our awareness of them and reminded to use them often.

May this Christmas season bring you joy and may your spiritual battles be won quickly in the Lord!

These words, “be strong and very courageous”, were given to Joshua after the Israelites lost Moses. God chose Joshua to lead His people into the land He had promised them. He was directed to be their new leader. As exciting as that possibly was for Joshua it had to also be daunting.

He was tasked to not only lead the children of God into their promised territories, but to lead them to first take possession of this land. God knew how this act of obedience by Joshua would bring the Israelites face to face with more danger and evil. Repeating Himself three times to Joshua with being strong and courageous, God also encouraged him to not be afraid. He then promised He will be with him wherever he went.

When the Lord chose to encourage Joshua like this it meant the task before him required strength and courage. And it also required the Lord to be with him in it.

I clearly hear these words to be strong and courageous being spoken over some in His church right now. This also means that what task He’s putting before us will require us to not only remain close to Him and fully dependent on Him, but also to step into strength and courage.

Whenever I hear the Lord encourage me to be courageous and strong, I know this will mean that what is coming in my direction as a result of my obedience will have the potential to tempt me to want to retreat and fall back in fear. And in order for that to not happen, I also know that I will need to lean into the Lord more so so that I will have what I need to do what He is placing before me to do.

More often than not, when God puts an assignment before us it will require us to walk outside of what feels comfortable for us. And in venturing into the unfamiliar and/or the uncomfortable we need to choose to have a heart that the Lord encouraged Joshua to have, a heart full of strength and courage. We can choose these attributes knowing that God promises to be with us in it.

Obedience to God is not always the easy path. It does not always produce the results we prefer to have. Just look at the path of obedience our Lord walked down. His obedience led to His death and resurrection as was foretold in the Old Testament, yet it pleased God to provide us salvation from His Son’s obedience.

Sometimes obedience to the Lord, like with Joshua and the Israelites, stirs up old enemies and surfaces new ones. And it can be hard to see what God is doing within that task or what He desires from our obedience. Yet, because God has led us down this path, He remains with us in it and will see to it that we will be victorious.

Those seasons of my life that required more from me in order to be obedient to God and to face whatever that heartfelt obedience brought with it, were also the sweetest seasons that brought me the joy of being closer to Him and more of an understanding of His ways.

I have set the Lord always before me;
because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

Psalm 16:8

If you hear these same words, be strong and courageous, then trust Him fully to be close to you as you walk out faithfully and obediently what He’s placed before you to do. Don’t retreat, don’t give up and in time you will see how He is using your obedience for your good and His glory.

Releasing this video this Thanksgiving week because I am truly thankful for God’s faithfulness in my life and work, and for His healing and redemptive nature that He has allowed me to experience so deeply (including in this testimony).

This is not an easy story to share, but it is an experience I’ve learned from that I want others to gain from as well. My hope is that this will bring freedom to individuals that have allowed lies from false teaching to enter their hearts. And for others to learn from my example and be more careful, walking in His discernment and wisdom, than I was in this broken season.

And because God uses all things for His glory, both good and bad, and for the good of those who love Him.. I am able to take this bad experience I went through and be grateful for what I learned and gained from it.

This is a longer video, so maybe play it in the background while you prep for Thanksgiving or grab a nice cup of coffee or tea.

I promise it will bless you and help better protect your heart from false teachers!

God gave me a dream in the night that revealed how some in the body of Christ were choosing to skip out on learning fundamental basics of our faith, in order to quickly advance their own selves to achieve their ambitions in life. Mind you I had this dream two years ago, but in this season He is bringing this dream to mind.

In the dream I found myself attending a school for spiritual growth and biblical understanding alongside other students. Then a young lady walks into the classroom and tells the teacher, who was a pastor representing Jesus within the dream, that she will be attending another school. She walks out and I, simultaneously, heard it spoken in my spirit  that she was attending her own school she made for herself. She had it in mind that she would advance faster on her own.

The teacher turned to us and said no one would be able to advance themselves without attending the right school. Let me be clear that this school in the dream did not represent any school here on earth, but rather a school in the spirit realm. The Lord spoke to my heart and said many in this age are seeking advancement in His Kingdom by their own ways and strength. Yet, how they define advancement resembles how the world does. They believe that to possess giftings, talents, acknowledgement of man and even power equates to success and advancement.

These children of God have lost sight, blinding themselves with wrong motives and intentions. Refusing to obediently walk as the Lord leads them they have marked out a path for themselves, but in vain. The Lord has lessons He wants us to learn and trials He allows us to endure in order to bring us growth both personally and spiritually. He wants us to find growth as we consistently hold onto spiritual disciplines and learn how to walk with Him.

Trying to cut corners by refusing to remain humble and teachable, refusing to allow more mature believers to speak into your life and refusing to develop a genuine and deep relationship with God never has a good outcome. Trying to do life our own way never leads to true joy and peace. And because God loves even these ones doing their own walk, He will use the consequences of their choices to bring them an understanding that His ways do in fact work best.

We’ve all tried to cut corners, choosing a path absent of Him; but recognizing our error and humbly returning to His process for each of us is a step towards growth. You might have seen others gain much in this life knowing they refused to be worked on by their Maker in order to gain quicker advancement, but without the growth they need to sustain what they’ve accomplished they potentially can lose it all.

Without obediently walking through the process He has set before us, we will find ourselves circling the same mountain again and again without progress. And we can sadly miss out on those things our hearts truly yearn for in our attempt to seek out things not in His plan for us.

“Instead, seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you.”

Luke 12:31

I had a prophetic dream used to show me how I was settling for a smaller vision with my ministry compared to God’s vision and plans for it.

In the dream I found myself with packed boxes and filled suitcases right past the front door threshold of our old apartment. They were either stacked up or gathered close to the front door, but definitely on the outside of the apartment.

(Prophetic Word In Video Format)

I saw myself re-organize and push around some of the boxes with the intent of moving them to our next place, but then I got distracted with something and had to leave that apartment. I looked down and grabbed a pair of old shoes I knew I had grown out of and put them on.

They, of course, were too small but I hadn’t yet bought myself a new pair. I remember thinking to myself within the dream to make a better effort to purchase new shoes soon. Then I left the old apartment in the “too small for me” shoes and went to minister to a good friend.

So much to unpack here.. pun intended. Shoes in dreams normally represent ministry, like vehicles do, and in my dream the Lord was revealing to me that it was time for me to release an old vision I had for my ministry that was no longer “fitting” me and to gain a larger shoe size, a larger vision instead.

The packed boxes and suitcases revealed how I haven’t fully embraced the next part of my ministry as I was in a stand still with my transition. I was willing to pack up my belongings, but not ready to make the move and that’s why I allowed myself to be distracted.

Wearing my old shoes and remaining in my old apartment feels comfortable. So does remaining in a mindset and vision for my life and ministry that I know I’ve grown out of. God has definitely began a push forward with my ministry and life this past year.

I’ve been gaining more understanding, education, resources and connections. I’ve been growing in my faith, trust and courage. And I’ve had to revisit experiences in the present that look similar to painful experiences in my past, pushing through my fears and rebuilding more of my ability and desire to trust God in these hard things again.

The Lord told me that He’s doing the pushing and nudging with many right now. He’s revealing to you that your shoes won’t fit anymore either. That’s because you’ve outgrown your old ways, your old vision and dreams and you see a new pair of shoes He’s placed in front of you.

It’s time to upgrade how you think, how you believe and how you trust God. Don’t allow the things around you to distract you from what God has for you. Be tunnel visioned for the plans God has placed within you and be brave. Step out of your comfort zone and allow God to use you and your life in a powerful way.

 

You weren’t meant to carry those burdens alone. Come away with me for a few minutes and sit beside me.

Share with me all you’ve been walking through, the easier parts and the hard challenges. I’m listening, or ‘all ears’, as they say. I want to hear it all, every burden and every emotion you’ve had in response.

Let the tears flow as you confide in me, let your mind and heart process it all. Now let’s put those burdens, some soul crushing even, into this box and I’ll help you close the lid tight.

Let me keep this box for you. If you do, I’ll give you a gift in its’ place. This gift contains joy, peace, comfort and relief. But in order to receive this gift I have for you, you must release the box of burdens we put together into my hands.

I long to take your burdens. I can handle them and I know exactly what to do with them, trust me. Let’s meet like this again, where you give me your burdens and I give you joy instead, sometimes greater strength, whatever you need. You are loved.  – Jesus

Some achievements in our lives are measurable, like seeing the scale show us we’ve dropped a few pounds or seeing money grow in our bank account. Other achievements are not measurable and it is in those immeasurable accomplishments, such as our growth and maturity as a person and in the Lord or unity built within a body, that the eyes of God are fixed.

(Prophetic Word in Video Format)

The world sees success in what is measurable alone, and as people of faith we must remind ourselves otherwise. Jesus wants to draw you away with Him, providing yourself distance from your circumstances momentarily in order to show you what He sees about your life and the last season you’ve walked through. Many of you feel frustrated that your past season was for not because your goals, what was measurable, were not met. However, nothing goes to waste with God and He used that season to do way more significant works within you than you realize.

He’s been molding and shaping you, showing you your blindspots, surfacing your wounds in order to heal you and training you to follow Him down paths you were reluctant to venture down before. And He has seen goals placed in front of you achieved that you didn’t know were put before you. So much happens unseen.

No season is wasted for those who trust in the Lord.

The next season will show you the growth you’ve experienced when your response to similar challenges as before is wiser. Acknowledge the growth you’ve gained and the closeness with God you’re now experiencing, for that proves again how that frustrating season was not wasted.

A lot of new systems and processes have been put in place as directed by the Lord and now many are stepping into a time dedicated for those systems to be combed through and tested. The kinks will be needed to be smoothed out and God is providing grace for that to take place. Man has plans but God’s unfolding of them, and what those plans look like, will now take place.

“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”

Proverbs 16:9

As God gives us the desire of our hearts and as we continually abide in Him, those desires are shaped and formed into God’s intent with them. Don’t give up or lose sight when what you’ve planned requires adjustments, slight changes or maybe even an overhaul. Things have to be tested and even what we’ve thought we heard God saying will be tested as well.

It doesn’t equate to missing what God has said or failing. It just means you have been brave, taking steps of faith and trusting God will direct you. Perfectionism can also get in the way and blind us to the process He has us in.

To get us from one place to another was a response to one inspired word, and to move us in a more specific direction will come by a new inspired word. Yet, God sees it all outside of time and space and we can trust His leading.

This process will reveal even more true desires of your heart, desires that God has placed within you, desires hard for us to discover on our own. Trust this season and believe God has your best interest at heart as He directs your steps.

My husband owns his own landscaping business. Recently, he was sharing with me how business was not as busy as usual, though, he still had jobs planned on the books to do.

I reminded him how this time last year we were finishing up building our container home to move into and business for him was a similar pace compared to now.

He then went to his photos app on his phone and scrolled to last year at the same month and saw the projects he was working on. (He collects photos of his projects to reference back on.) He realized it was, in fact, similar of a pace as last year. Then he saw how projects increased more as Fall settled in.

I heard the Lord say in that moment, “if I have bought you this far, then I’ll continue to remain faithful in days to come. Trust me.”

(Prophetic Word in Video Format)

Reflecting back on God’s faithfulness to us in the past, even just one year ago, and seeing how far we’ve come with our lives since moving back to Texas, both of us could only have thankful hearts towards God.

We can either see the lack in our situation and focus on what we don’t have yet, or we can reflect on God’s faithfulness and view our lives through grateful eyes.

Ungrateful hearts complain and lose sight of God’s provision for them, no matter how that provision looks, and forget how good that they actually have it. When we complain or even curse our current situation because it’s not where we think we should be in life, then we’ve only attracted to our lives things that rob and steal from us.

Our hearts and words have that much power.

But if we are genuinely grateful in our hearts and share our thankfulness to God, it’s placing our belief and faith in His goodness and faithfulness. This pleases His heart. Being thankful with your situation, where you are at now, brings blessings and open doors.

If you’re struggling to be thankful remember back on God’s faithfulness. David would cry out for help reminding God of His faithfulness.

“Do not withhold your mercy from me Lord; may your love and faithfulness always protect me.”

Psalm 40:11

Reading through the book of Hosea you quickly realize it’s not a light read. Israel is deep into their idol worship and instead of returning back to God while in their misery they brought upon themselves, they are found wailing on their beds and looking to other sources to rescue them rather than He who can actually do so.

“They do not cry out to me from their hearts but wail to me on their beds.”

Hosea 7:14a

(Prophetic Word in Video Format)

The Lord spoke to me from this verse and passage and revealed the reason the Israelites did not cry out to Him was because they found themselves far from Him. So all they could do was play the role of a victim and cry. They had no intent to return to Him and so did not direct their cries for help to Him.

This word is for people who are struggling in their lives or have a dire situation and wonder why God hasn’t responded to their cries. He’s waiting on you to turn to Him with your heart, not just your tears. He knows it’s been hard, difficult and leaving you hopeless, but nonetheless He is wanting your entire heart. Maybe you’ve convinced yourself that you’ve given Him your full heart, but He see’s parts of your heart entertaining selfish ambitions or trusting yourself to fix things because you don’t fully trust God to come through for you.

We’re living in times where straddling the fence will not work anymore. A full heart decision has to be made and made sincerely and genuinely being devoted to Him daily.